Editorial: Savannah VOICE festival makes sweet music

Thursday

Aug 22, 2019 at 10:29 PMAug 23, 2019 at 8:27 AM

The sweet sounds of music fill Savannah’s cityscape throughout much of the summer — and August is an especially sonorous month.

These are the closing days of the month-long Savannah VOICE Festival’s seventh season. The event brings more than 100 artists and 30 events showcasing opera, musical theater and song to our city. The non-profit arts organization has integrated itself into Savannah’s cultural fabric with a full schedule of world-renowned vocal artists, exclusive concerts and original commissioned works.

With its focus on the human voice — and its sound, passion, ability to impact emotion and affect change — the 2019 VOICE Festival explores everything from earthly pleasures to the contemplation of the divine.

A warm welcome

Savannah VOICE Festival co-founder Maria Zouves, an accomplished opera singer, and her husband, legendary baritone Sherrill Milnes, operated a musical education program called VOICExperience in Florida. There, they trained singers from around the world and held master classes and special events in New York and Chicago.

When the time came to relocate their program, they turned their attention to Savannah. It’s been a great match.

In 2012, the classical music scene here was in transition, with the Savannah Philharmonic just beginning to take root. Our city welcomed this talented couple, and they have reciprocated by creating a multifaceted festival with a strong public education component.

Along with the long-running Savannah Music Festival, the Savannah VOICE Festival has turned our historic city into a hub for music lovers and a cultural destination for visitors. The regional economic impact of music festivals is certainly impressive. While the Savannah VOICE Festival is just coming into its own, a quick look at the 30-year-old Savannah Music Festival’s 2019 numbers shows its potential.

The Savannah Music Festival recently announced paid attendance of 29,065 during its most recent season, with 39 percent of those attendees coming from out of town. That translates into 1,763 flights through the Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport and 8,916 room nights for out-of-town visitors.

The 17-day Savannah Music Festival had an overall economic impact of $10.05 million in overall direct spending, including $7.65 million in visitor spending and an estimated $852,344 combined sales and bed tax revenue.

It’s not just the dollars

While the economic numbers are strong, it’s the music that speaks to our souls at music festivals — and not just from the stage.

Every year, the Savannah VOICE Festival produces events in area schools, retirement homes and for local charities. The festival offers free educational events, conducts teen workshops and master classes for aspiring local singers, provides scholarships to area artists and partners with other community arts organizations.

This year, students at Esther F. Garrison School of Visual and Performing Arts produced the opera, “The Little Prince.” They didn’t just sing some of the roles, they conceptualized the sets and built them by hand. It’s all part of the free educational programs offered by the Savannah VOICE Festival’s overarching sister organization, the VOICExperience Foundation.

While musical styles come and go, the importance of music in our lives remains unchanging, as Zouves noted in a recent Difference Makers podcast interview. Music made with the human voice tells a story, takes us on a journey and connects us one to another. At a concert, many people share a common experience, and yet each person has a unique experience of their own.

In a month when mass shootings dominate the daily news, the Savannah VOICE Festival offers a welcome respite. In a world where the unending grind of just getting through the day can feel oppressive and dehumanizing, a festival focused on the power of the human voice to uplift, inspire and remind us all of our common humanity seems especially important.

Don’t let the festival close this weekend without experiencing the wonder of it all.

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